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Monday, August 29, 2011

Tommy Lasorda Verbally Attacks Fans @ Rancho Cucamonga

Nothing new here. Just Tommy Lasorda being Tommy Lasorda. And why are you surprised? Lasorda has been acting like this for years unless the media is there. Then he will be the great Lasorda telling jokes and laughing.

I really wish I could publish all of your e-mails but you guys are terrible. I received a dozen e-mails since last night. The problem is that it's full of bad words. I can't be posting those words here.

I post upcoming appearances. If you decide to go, be aware of the consequences. Anything can happen at these events! I'm not defending Lasorda but you have to remember that the man is old and he's always been like this. I guess if you've never met him before then this is shocking news to you.

Last Friday I posted the news that Lasorda was going to sign autographs at the Quakes game. {linked here}

I guess it was a mess.

Here are a few e-mails that I received. I had to edit most of them. Send me a e-mail if you want to share your experience in meeting Lasorda yesterday. Send pictures too. But please, be nice.

From Tony -

Hi Roberto,

I went to the Quakes game last night since you posted the news that Tommy Lasorda was going to be there at 5pm signing autographs. Oh my god, the man is a terrible human being! He arrives at 4:30 and decided to sign right away even though Quakes staff members told him the agreement was from 5 till 6. I was a bit behind in line but employees guaranteed that I would get a autograph for my daughter.

It was 5pm and Lasorda yells "Why the F I'm here?". "Who the F said I should sign during the game". "I want to watch the F'ing game". "This is bleeping &^%$"

He scared all the kids and left early. I did not get his autograph. Thank you Tommy. You're a class act!!

Tony

E-mail from Paul -

Yo my buddy, how you doing? I was at the Tommy signing today and today he showed why he needs to stay home. He got pissed off cause the signing was at the same time as the game and I guess he wanted to watch so he started yelling at the guys who were quakes employee's "Why did you have me sign during the game, while fk it then fk the time limit I'll just sign all of these autographs" Then after he signed a ball he would roll it across the table to you and lean back. Getting mad eveytime a play happened and people clapped. Cussing in front of kids telling people "Don't tell me where to sign, I'll sign wherever". He would sign a different spot just to piss people off. People in the line were putting items away in fear of Tommy messing them up on purpose. I asked him to sign a photo in blue and he looked at me and signed it with the black sharpie. He would yell at kids asking them if they had any manners for not saying thank you. Some kids were really scared of the guy. My little girl didn't want to go meet him and get an autograph cause she saw how he would yell at people. Today changes the way I view Tommy. I know it was hot but we all stood in the sun sweating. For me it was a sad day and I only hope he didn't scare my daughter out of any future signings. Just an fyi, the event sucked.

Paul

E-mail from Sam

Hi Robert, I don't know if anyone has send you a message but the event with Tommy Lasorda was a disaster! I felt bad for the Quakes employees. One of them even told me that they will no longer book Lasorda for future events. He said "He's dead for us". Let me explain what happened. Lasorda was really mad that the event was at the same time that the Quakes played. He wanted to watch the game. He kept yelling at the Quakes PR people "Who the &^%$ decided to make me sign autographs while the &^#@(*%# game is going on". It was bad Robert. I thought Lasorda was going to have a heart attack right there. Plus it was 110 degrees and Lasorda was red. He ended the event while many fans left disappointed. Quakes were very nice to me since they refunded after I complained. I stayed and watched the game.

Thanks for the all info you provide!

Sam

E-mail from Lorena -

Once again, thank you for the information about the signings! You are AWESOME!

It was sad to read some of the comments some of your readers made in your blog about today's Tommy Lasorda appearance. They made it seem like it was Tommy's fault and like he signed all sloppy on purpose. HELLO...HE'S OLD! HIS HANDS SHAKE!

I was upset at the staff not Tommy! They should not have scheduled the signing during the game. I too wanted to watch the game. I was so bummed out about not getting his autograph, but I got a refund on my tickets and ended up staying to watch the game. I ran out before the game ended, hoping to run into Tommy on his way out. A very nice staff member told me where he would be coming out from. I waited and sure enough Tommy came out. I asked him to sign my bobblehead and he said, "If I sign this for you, you have to tell all these other people coming over here that they can't have my autograph!" He sounded upset. Of course I agreed! He signed my bobblehead and my boyfriend's hat. The staff members that were around him were JERKS! One was the guy who was saying they'd try to rebook him next year. The same guy also threatened to have people arrested if they didn't leave (that was when Tommy stopped signing at 5:30). These staff members didn't even help Tommy get on the golf cart that took him to his car! My boyfriend assisted him onto the cart and Tommy very politely said, "Thank you!" Tommy even shook my hand. He was probably just frustrated with the staff at the Quakes stadium.

After that we went and waited for Dee to come out and sign my boyfriend's hat. Our night ended perfectly! =)

A Loyal Reader,

Lorena

E-mail from Daniel

Hey Roberto,

Tommy Lasorda didn't take his medications today. He was bad. I hope the Quakes call the Dodgers and tell them what happened. There were so many kids around and Lasorda sure loved to cuss everyone out. From "F this and F that".

Daniel

E-mail from Susana

Hello Roberto, thanks for posting all the appearances! I have never met Mr. Lasorda before so I decided to go and take my 6 year old son. Oh boy, what a nightmare! Tommy was attacking the employees for setting up the event while the game was on and he yelled at the fans for not being quick enough or for not saying "Thank you". I was close in getting his autograph and that's when Lasorda got up and said something like "I'm gone. Want to watch this f'ing game".

I'm sad.

Susana

I got more e-mails. But like I said, I can't publish them. Please be nicer. I understand your frustration. No one should be yelled at or be disrespected.

19 comments:

I'm not surprised he acted the way he did at the Quakes game. The man has no class.My daughter absolutely loved Tommy, so when we went to Vero Beach quite a few years ago, all she wanted to do was see Tommy. As we were walking to Holman, Tommy drove up in a golf cart. My daughter ran over to him, and very politely told him she was so excited to meet him, she was big fan, etc. He looked her square in the eye and said, "I gotta go take a leak, kid." Needless to say, she was stunned, and her opinion of him changed.

This event was horribly MANAGED. If i was lasorda I would be pissed at the staff taking care of the line...Many people left dissapointed cause their were people cutting the line AFTER they had got their first autograph...the staff was too nice...they need to hold order...from people cutting in line, to people getting an autograph and then cutting in line before people even got their first autograph...I was angry cause i was 20th or so in line and barely got an autograph...Tommy was probably pissed cause he was autographing for the same people...what could i say people are ruthless!! grade of an "F - for the quakes staff people" !!

Like I said yesterday, this fiasco was more the Quakes staff fault than Tommy's. This was poor organization on the part of the Quakes not informing Tommy that he would be signing, let alone be signing during the game out in the 110 degree weather. While some of the staff were very professional during the mess, many other staff members were completley unprofessional and didn't know how to handle the situation. As I stated before it feels like this organization and many of its employees are still stuck back in the Angels days. Being they still have that bias many employees acted upon stereotypes of Dodgers fans than to what was actually going on. Many employees overreacted after the abrubt ending of the signing and acted very standoffish towards Dodgers fans eventhough for the most part everyone acted in a orderly manner and went straight towards their seats. In terms of Dodgers fan behavior this was nothing close to being something you would see at the Ravine on Ethier's bobblehead day, but the Quakes staff threaten to have Dodgers fans arrested just for standing around the entrance, most who were just looking to get a refund.

It's funny because before and during the event much of the staff I would say was overly nice, and this also created problems because there was massive line cutting going on and some of the people who were getting their items signed by Tommy felt this was their chance to tell Lasorda their life story. Obviously those people agitated everyone, including Lasorda.

Overall the event was a mess and the Quakes organization should learn to welcome their affliate's fanbase a little better. The 66ers were far better at welcoming and wanting Dodgers fans at their place. From what I have experienced this year at Rancho it feels the Quakes only have Dodgers events out of obligation, and not because they really want Dodgers fans to show up on a nightly basis.

Next month is Dodgers day at LA County fair. Last year fair signing was far more organized than the Rancho fiasco and most people shouldn't leave dissapointed as long as you get there early enough.

I don't know what some of these previous comments are talking about. There is NO possible way you can blame the Quakes staff for this fiasco. Lasorda is to blame 100%. They have had a few other autograph signings this season and they are always during the game. Lasorda had to have known about this in advance. There is no way he and his people didn't get every detail of information prior to the event.

The Quakes staff have been nothing but polite and accommodating all year long. Much better than the staff at the 66ers during the previous years. If anything they were too nice and I think that was part of their downfall yesterday. People started demanding a refund and I think one person started yelling "Follow me, they're giving refunds at the ticket office!" This caused people to run down the concourse and demand their money back. Then after receiving their refund most people still stayed to watch the game.

Some people are ridiculous and as as Dodger fan I am ashamed of Tommy Lasorda and ashamed how some of our Dodger Faithful reacted.

I’ll make this short. This was one or two years ago I was up in SF watching a game and noticed that TL was sitting just a few rows in front of me next to the Dodgers dug out. I got so excited, I left my seat went to the gift shop, bought a $30 bb and a $5 pin, but I didn’t care it was him! I didn’t want to bug him because I saw a few people going down to get something signed, So I saw my chance he was getting up walking back up the aisle, he was just at my seat and I said “Mr. Lasorda can I please have your autograph?” He looked up at me didn’t say a word and kept on walking! I was like what the hell was that? Ok he didn’t hear me I thought but I know he did. So later he’s back at his seat and the game moves on, it might be the seventh inning or so he gets back up, and I’m thinking this will be my last chance. He started walking up the aisle again, gets right in front of me, again “Mr. Lasorda can I please have your autograph?” Again he looks at me but this time in a load voice says “I GOTTA GO TO THE JOHN PAL!!!” I just froze as everyone around could hear him and starting laughing I couldn’t believe he said something like that. I just sat back down with my $35 bb and pin in my hard and felt stupid and embarrass!! Ok I get it he must get asked a hundred times a day for an autograph, but hear he did that to a little kid (the Phillie Blue post) makes me sick!

I have met Tommy Lasorda a couple of times and he has been great. Once he was in the Dodger Stadium elevator and he was super nice to my 6 year old daughter. He even picked her up so I could take a picture of them. Like you said Roberto he is old and prone to grouchy old man moments. What I don't understand though is why you would post this knowing it will make Tommy look bad but refuse to post the comments Andre Ethier told you in front of other fans. I think you should have posted both these experiences since they happened in front of others. Anyway great blog and give Tommy a break, he is old and you just have to chalk it up to that.

Yeah this is not a top secret among fans. We all know that Lasorda can be a real jerk. I can tell you a few stories but why bother? Not to add fuel to the fire but he's also a racist. Pay attention when he talks to a black/latino fan.

Not to add fuel to the fire? Yea rite. Well no big deal u gotta take the good with the bad they are human after all and no amount of money can change ur personality. It is what it is consider this a warning or not. Don't expect him to be grumpy always just like u shouldn't expect pizza ay every Kemp signing

First off I would like to start off by saying why are all these people complaining to Roberto??? You should spam all these complainers! When you're in public you can't control other peoples action or language. As parents all we can do is teach our kids better. You guys should've stayed home if your scared of profanity. As for "TOMMY BEING TOMMY" You guys should ask all the umpires and reporters about Tommy? Is anyone gonna tell him something? Exactly. He's been through a lot through life and through his career. Leave Uncle Tommy alone. It was my 1st time meeting him yesterday and I even made the legend laugh! And shook the mans hand. If you can't take the heat get out the kitchen and get out the sun! Stop complaining and enjoy life. Thanks Roberto for doin everything you do! STILL DODGERS!

Well I'm thinking twice about meeting him on Nov.5th @ Frank & Son...Gotta pay 4 his auto $139 on a jersey I want sign...but all this I'm reading & hearing sounds like it's not worth it?? Glad I never went 2 none of his signings...he sounds like a true BLUE JERK!!

@ gododger5: It was because of people like you why others didn't get an autograph! Nobody cares about your life story buddy! & everybody was waiting in the heat and sun just like you! You were probably one of the no life bastards cutting, which is why you are getting all defensive.

Unfortunately, Tommy's been this way for a long time. He's a cranky old man, and that's all there is to it. He doesn't care what time it is or who's around, if he feels like going off, he's gonna go off. He did it every year I went to Vero.

^^^^^ agreed i hate the people who try to start a relationship with the guy signing.. trying to say something funny or tell him how many times you met him before or how youve been watching him forever and you were at the game when he did such and such.. try "it was nice to meet you, thanks for the autograph".. im most of us have said a badword before and most of us say them everyday but when your doing it around kids, young children thats when theres a problem.

I would like to know if Unknown is a Quakes employee. I really don't care for making it look like the 66ers are a better run organization than the Quakes, I hold no loyality to either team. I'm a Dodgers fan first, and as a Dodgers fan I'm simply sharing my experiences that I have had at the two locations. I have been to three Quakes games this year and two of the times (one being yesterday) my group has had problems with the employees. The first time we had ushers openly make jokes that they need to carry around weapons because there's Dodgers fans around. It feels like we get the stink eye from some of the employees each time we go there. You say Quakes employees are far more polite, please tell me at least one incident where a 66ers employee, or any other minor league team employee threaten to arrest fans for simply standing in the concourse?

I'm not defending Tommy's behavior or the behavior of certain Dodgers fans because all those things combined to create this disaster. What I am saying is the Quakes organization didn't know how to handle this event and my general experience at that park is not a positive one.

I say the 66ers made Dodgers fans feel more welcome, and I would like you to give me examples as to why that isn't so? 66ers use to have the LA logo painted behind homeplate with a massive banner at the entrance of the parking lot that said "Welcome to Dodgertown." At Rancho I couldn't tell you who the affliate was unless someone told me.

Like everyone else is saying this isn't a surprise to see this side of Tommy, and I kind of feel the employees and the first few people in line egg on his foul behavior. Tommy had a point to some the complaints he was making. The man didn't need to be there, so at the very least some of you people should have address him as Mr. Lasorda and told him thanks for signing something. That's just a common courtsy thing you do at signings, both paid and especially at free signings. This was a free signing, and some of you people need to be courteous to the folks waiting behind you. Give the man your item, say thank you and quickly move aside for the next person. If you want personal engravings or to share your recipe for good spaghetti, that's what Frank and Sons is for. It was very obvious there were a ton of first timers there yesterday.

No I am not a Quakes employee I simply visit the ballpark frequently. My name is Leonard Johnson and I am both a Dodger and a Quakes fan. We seem to have had two completely different experiences at the two stadiums (Quakes & 66ers). I used to go to the 66ers games a lot last season when they were a Dodgers affiliate too. All I was saying was that I feel like the Quakes staff is a lot more polite and accomodating than the 66ers staff. I am talking specifically with the people I have dealt with when getting tickets or speaking on the phone with the front office. I could care less for both teams ushers, or whatever. If I ever have an issue with some tickets or purchased some and then couldn't attend, the staff always fixes it and does it with a smile. This happened once or twice with the 66ers and I was given the cold shoulder.

Also, although I did not witness the Quakes staff member threatening to have people arrested. I am sure it was not for simply standing in the concourse. I did however, witness people demanding their money back and chasing after Lasorda like lunitics trying to get the man's signature after HE left the event early and cursed at the employees and fans. I am guessing it was a safety issue and the Quakes didn't want anymore trouble. You are right, the event could have been handled better but Lasorda was a complete jerk. Lasorda ruined the event not the Staff Members.

Finally, the Quakes have Dodger Town and Route of Champions signs all over the stadium.

I am a huge Dodger fan and a huge Tommy fan. However, like I said earlier I am ashamed of Tommy's behavior. That was just not right.

Don't get me wrong, I completley agree Tommy Lasorda and certain Dodgers fans were acting like fools, but that arrest threat incident was seperate from that. I know who you are talking about when you say that nutjob who was yelling for a refund. Everyone simply ignored that guy, he wasn't in the concourse. What happen was everyone came up to the concourse entrance because they were confused as to if Tommy was signing again or if they were giving refunds. Nobody was yelling, no Dodgers fans were pushing or shoving, and one guy was trying to tell a Quakes employee that Lasorda had taken his ball to sign which turned out to be true. One of the Quakes employee was simply overwhelmed by what had just happen, and he overreacted by threating to have people arrested if they continued to stand in the concourse.

I have been in plently of situations where autograph sessions ended early and SGA items run out early and because of that Dodgers fans begin to act like rabid dogs. I can assure you that wasn't the case for this incident which is why I'm mad at how certain Quakes employees reacted to the situation.

Yes there were a couple of loud mouths right after the signing ended, but you'll always find those people at a signing. Overall most of the Dodgers fans who didn't get any signatures acted in a civilized manner after the event had ended. If anything most the Dodgers fans acting like morons on that day were the people at the front of the line who got their signature. Those are probably the people sending Roberto profanity laced emails complaining about Tommy's sailor mouth.

On a personal note, I have met and talked to Tommy many of times. I don't exactly agree with Reberto assesment of Tommy that he is only cheerful person when the camera is on him. I have talked to Lasorda several times when there are no cameras around and he's always fine as long as you don't start bothering him for an autograph or do anything he'll take as being disrespectful to him. At spring training in Arizona he seems totally fine with wanting to give autos as long as it's during his aloted sign time.

Like I said just don't do anything that will make him think you are being disrespectful. I'm use to being around a lot of athletes and celebrities, and I can assure you Tommy is up there in personality but there are others who are far moodier and a much bigger prima donna than Lasorda.

My favorite comment is the one that accuses Lasorda of being racist. I guess my father and I are just a couple lucky "brothas." We were walking around by the VSPB at Dodger Stadium, and ran into Lasorda. He was gracious enough to stop and chat, and pose for pictures. Didn't even throw out any derogatory statements. Oh lawdy, imagine that!

I was one of the people who was threatened with being arrested. And for what? Please tell me what illegal thing I did. Tommy racist??? I'm Mexican and he didn't treat me differently. As a matter of fact, my boyfriend is Mexican and he sat in the dugout club once. Tommy signed my boyfriend's ticket stub and even allowed him to sit with him in his little boxed off area! How evil of him! LoL

The people who went through the line between 4:30 and 5:05 had it good. Tommy was in a good mood and signing away. Once the game started at 5:05 Tommy started to unleash hell on Quakes staff. I was about 40 people back and could hear Tommy screaming at the staff and some fans. I wasn't able to hear exactly what Tommy was complaining about until I was closer to the autograph table about 20 people back. All you could hear is F-this and F-that and I want to watch the F-in game. Who here has ever complained because you couldn't watch a Minor League game??? I thought that I wasn't going to get an autograph since I believed he was going to get up and leave. Luckily for me I went through the line and a short while later Tommy got up and walked away.

Some comments blame Tommy. Other comments blame the Quakes staff. How can you blame the Quakes staff when all they did was book a Hall of Famer to do a free signing with paid admission. That doesn't make sense. The Quakes always have former MLB players make appearances. I have been to many of those appearances and have never heard the former players complain. Maury Wills and Steve Yeager made recent appearances during a Quakes game to sign autographs and they didn't complain. They were happy. I know because I was there. They have done this for years now with about 15 former MLB players and have never had any problems until this event.

If you want to blame anybody you have to blame Tommy Lasorda's people. They failed to mention to him when the signing was going to take place. They didn't tell him "where" and "when". They already knew days in advance where and when the signing was to take place. I like Tommy Lasorda but the truth is he crossed the line. When he began to have a tantrum until the time he walked away he must of said the F-word more than 20 times. All that in front of fans and kids. You really can't defend that. I like Tommy but he should of known what he was doing in front of all those people. I also give him credit for making appearances at his age but he really lost it. I have seen him lose it before for three reasons. (1)People don't say please and thank you. (2) People drop a second item and (3) Someone drops a bat. He gets mad and takes it out on that one person but a couple of minutes later he is back to normal. This time he didn't bother regaining his composure. Who really complains because you can't watch a Minor League game??? I'v never even heard of that. He also talked to the Quakes staff as if they were animals and did it front of everybody. Nobody wants to be talked to like that especially in public. As far as the Quakes staff threatening to have people arrested, I was gone by then so didn't witness that part.

The truth is you have to blame Tommy's people for not giving him the full details and Tommy for losing his cool for about 20 minutes. I wont stop me from attending another Lasorda event though. I can't wait for the next one!